Learn about life afloat the easy way

Life on a narrowboat can be as peaceful as it is idyllic BUT you need to understand the pros, cons, highs, lows, and day to day logistics in living on England's inland waterways. Let me help you find out all you need to know before you commit to what could be a very expensive mistake.

2015 02 22 Newsletter – Buying A Narrowboat Part 2

There are just thirty eight days to go now before the start of the next exciting chapter in our lives. In just over a month’s time I will hang up my sheath my shears, stow my spade and finish with my fork before setting sail on this year’s seven month waterways adventure. It’s all terribly exciting but at the moment I have something more important on my mind.

Sally’s back. I know she’s back because (A) I collected her from the airport and (B) both the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner have been running full time since she returned.

I tried my very hardest to clean the boat to her standard in a mammoth five hour session after I finished work on Wednesday night. I vacuumed, dusted, washed and polished everything on the boat which looked remotely dirty or dusty and made sure that the dirty linen basket was empty. However, I knew that whatever I did, Sally would do everything again the very minute she stepped in to the boat after thirty six exhausting hours of non stop travel.

I was right but, unlike last time when I threw my toys out of the pram, I accepted that she has a sixth sense as far as dirt is concerned and that my “clean” is not in the same league as hers.

It’s good to have her back. Dogs on board are a nightmare. Our living space is just under three hundred square feet so the hairs they shed don’t have far to spread and cleaning up the dirt they track up and down the hallway we call home is a job constantly waiting to be done. Unfortunately for Sally, cleaning the oak effect laminate flooring is a fairly labour intensive job which I haven’t had time to do.

I was running around like a headless chicken on Wednesday evening trying to get the boat up to scratch. It’s when I’m in a hurry that I get frustrated with simple boating tasks which are so much more labour intensive than they are in a house.

I had to wash the clothes in our laundry basket. It’s a simple enough task to throw a 7kg load into a plumbed in automatic washing machine on dry land, but it’s a bit of a pain on the boat in our cheap and cheerful low cost but labour intensive twin tub.

For starters, I have to make sure that there’s enough water in the tank. A wash cycle uses thirty litres. A rinse cycle uses thirty more. Particularly dirty washing (e.g. anything I wear for work) requires a second rinse. One load of washing can use a quarter of our 350 litre tank.

At this time of the year, when the water supply to the pontoons is turned off to prevent exposed pipes from freezing, I have to run a hose from the boat to the nearest water supply, a manhole sixty feet from the boat. Filling my tank can take twenty minutes of faffing about, often slipping across ice, or bent double to protect my face from driving rain hurled at me by a fierce south westerly.

A full wash cycle means being constantly at hand. The maximum wash cycle available to the £100 plastic twin tub is a miserly fifteen minutes. Three visits to the machine are needed for a basic wash, then a couple more for the rinse cycle followed by one last visit to move the clean wet washing in the spin dryer for a five minute blitz.

The spin dryer doesn’t actually get the clean clothes dry so more time is needed to drape or peg everything over hangers and hang them in the boat wherever there’s a chance the clothing will dry, usually somewhere near the stove.

Of course, if there’s a chance of the clothes drying in front of the stove, the stove needs to be on. And for the stove to be alight, there needs to be a plentiful supply of coal to keep it that way. A 25kg bag of coal briquettes lasts me for about two and a half days so roughly once a month I stagger up the gravel slope to the boat with ten of them. This month’s coal replenishment coincided with my manic preparation for Sally’s homecoming.

The toilet cassette also needed emptying before Sally walked into the boat and complained about the smell. The twenty one litre tank sometimes smells a bit if it’s left longer than four days. It rarely lasts that long if there are two of us on board but with just me using it over the last month and a half when I haven’t been at work, each emptying session was about a week apart.

Normally, non of the additional on board work is a problem, but I twisted my back earlier in the week so unless I’m sitting still with my back straight, any movement, especially bending, is painful to say the least. Unfortunately bending is what you do an awful lot of on board. On many boats, including mine, you have to simultaneously duck through the cratch cover opening, step over the gunnel and step down in to the well deck to get to the cabin’s front doors. It’s easy when you’re fighting fighting fit, but a different kettle of fish when you’re having trouble bending in the middle.

Carrying the 20kg almost full cassette through the boat and up the steps to the front deck – while bending over to avoid head butting the steel cabin door frame – is yet another bad back challenge, as is lifting bow locker gas cylinders or 25kg bags of coal. It’s a real pain in the neck, or pain in the back in my case.

Getting out through the back of the boat is just as bad. I have to almost bend double as I climb up the steps next to the engine before being able to stand straight in the hatch space, normally after I’ve caught my head on the hatch frame. In my current state, bending double isn’t an option. I have to walk backwards through the narrow door frame to the engine room then shuffle my bum up the steps, roll over and crawl out on to the back deck.

Still, life could be worse. I could be living in a house.

At the beginning of the week I spent three days doing what I do best; smashing things to pieces. Since the beginning of time, for at least twenty years anyway, Calcutt Boats have been using half a dozen steel framed wooden wheel-less freight carriages for storage. They’ve lasted well but now the timber on the weather side of many of them has rotted. All of them will be replaced by smart and durable olive green steel containers in due course. Stage one last week was to dismantle two of the worst.

Unfortunately before we could take them apart several tonnes of carefully stacked and ordered spares from dismantled engines had to be moved to their new homes. Once that was done, Pat and I made short work of removing the rotten face of the containers on the weather side before moving on to the two sides and rear of the sturdy railway cars protected from the elements. Oh boy, were these carriages well built. We spent hours with sledgehammers, crowbars and bolster chisels removing wood from metal so that the steel frames could be cut.

It was back breaking work. In my case, back twisting work. I sincerely hope that no more carriages are scheduled for removal before I leave in few short weeks.

I enjoyed a short break break from demolition on Tuesday when I did the daily post office run to ensure that the daily orders from Calcutt Boats’ online chandlery reached buyers the following day. We use any one of three nearby village post offices or the larger town post office in Southam. I used the Long Itchington branch on Tuesday as I also needed to collect some steel from a supplier there.

The trip was the usual pleasant eight mile return journey along quiet country lanes. I arrived back at the marina and headed straight back to the boat for my afternoon coffee. As I was walking away from the company pickup I used for the trip, a car pulled up behind me.

“Lost something?”, a familiar lady moorer enquired from the open passenger side window. I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about until she handed me my wallet. Her daughter who lives in Long Itchington had been shopping in the post office store, seen my wallet on the floor, looked inside to see who it belonged to, saw the Calcutt Boats address and driven to the marina to try to find the owner. The mother recongnised the just-convicted-murderer photo on my driving license and instructed her daughter to drive around the marina to look for me.

How lucky was that? If there had been any money in my wallet I would have given her some. As it was, all I had was a half inch thick wad of receipts. I didn’t think she would appreciate any of these so I just offered my heartfelt thanks instead.

I ran two discovery days this weekend. The first, on Saturday, was on a bitterly cold day with banks of purple clouds dropping masses of hail all around us. They all missed, apart from a brief but intense bombardment preceded by an unexpected squall which made the three point turn we were trying to execute at Napton Junction very interesting indeed.

Cold as it was, Saturday was a perfect summer’s day compared to Sunday.

We left the marina at 9am blessed by spells of early spring sunshine between increasingly thick banks of cloud. Our intended route for the day was to Braunston marina then back to Calcutt Boats but, by 12pm when we stopped for an early lunch near Flecknoe, a combination of co-helmsman Rob’s very confident and competent first time, first class boat handling skills and the rapidly deteriorating weather, we decided to cut the cruise short and turn round at the first possible opportunity before we both froze to death.

After a quick lunch and a sort cruise through choppy water, we anchored the bow of the boat on the pilings at the back of the winding hole in the middle of the garden moorings at Wolfhampcote, flipped the boat a hundred and eighty degrees and headed west into the teeth of a strengthening gale and horizontal sleet and hailstones.

I always advise anyone coming out with me, especially at this time of the year, to bring more warm and waterproof clothing for the trip than they think they will need. You don’t generate much heat standing almost motionless on the back of a boat for hours on end. Rob had brought plenty with him but his waterproofs, like most breathable waterproofs, couldn’t handle relentless driving rain.

By the time we reached the Calcutt flight he was very cold and very wet. I was a little cold but bone dry thanks to my bomb proof Guy Cotten deep sea fisherman’s outfit. The waterproofs have justified the fairly high purchase price time and time again.

We flew down the locks, successfully turned into the marina entrance against a fierce cross wind and then skated sideways across the six open acres of water on Meadows marina. Fortunately, I have a fairly spacious end mooring so I am able to point the boat at the grassy peninsula next to my mooring as I charge across the marina expecting to be blown sideways next to the pier at the right moment if my timing is right. We touched the wooden pontoon with barely a bump and quickly secured the boat.

I offered a bedraggled Rob a warming coffee but he decided to head off immediately with his car heater on full blast to try to restore circulation and dry his soaking trousers and shirt. Given the appalling weather we had endured for the last three hours I hesitantly asked if he had enjoyed the trip.

“Fantastic! Wonderful!”, he told me between chattering teeth, “I really have had a great time. OK, I know I’m cold and wet now, but you’ve answered all the questions about the lifestyle which concerned me. My main worry was that a narrowboat might be cold in the winter. Your boat is lovely and warm. It’s a real pleasure to sit in front of the stove after being out in weather like this. I’m definitely going ahead with my plans, so thank you very much indeed.”

The weather was, beyond question, the coldest and most uncomfortable on any of the fifty plus discovery days I’ve hosted so far but, do you know what? We both had a really good time. It was the worst possible weather for cruising, as you might expect in mid February, but it was still a pleasure to be cruising along close to nature, away from the noise and pollution of urban life, knowing that at any time we wanted, we could just pull over next to the towpath, secure the boat in a couple of minutes, and retire to the warmth and tranquility inside. Oh, how I love living afloat!

Buying A Narrowboat

This is part two of Simon Birt’s boat buying inspired article. The first part is here.

Making an offer

Having found the boat of your dreams, or in reality one that is not too much of a compromise and ticks most of the boxes, it is time to make an offer. This is something that a lot of people find quite tricky, knowing how much to offer can be difficult. Generally the seller is going to have set a price in the knowledge that there will be some negotiation. Offer too much and you are wasting money, too little and you may alienate the seller. Generally when boats first go on to the market, the asking price will be, perhaps a trifle optimistic, as the weeks go by the price is often reduced to something more realistic. When making an offer take account of any obvious remedial work that requires doing. A good approach is to ask the seller or broker what their best price is, this will give you a starting point. Without being too brutal point out any shortcomings that the boat has and suggest that these should be taken into account when agreeing the price. At this stage it is a good idea to see what the sellers attitude is to defects that may be found by the survey, will they contribute to the cost of rectification work?

After your offer is accepted it is normal to pay a deposit, in theory this commits the buyer to complete the purchase subject to a satisfactory survey. Most brokers will have terms that allow the buyer to withdraw only if major defects are uncovered by the survey, be aware that by accepting your deposit the seller is not committed to proceeding with the sale. They can simply return the deposit and call the deal off.

The Survey

The next stage in the buying process is the survey, the broker, assuming you are buying through a broker may suggest a surveyor, this may be fine, but it may be better to choose one independently. The surveyor should belong to a professional association such as the International Institute of Marine Surveying. One of the important membership requirements is that the surveyor holds professional indemnity insurance; this means that if the surveyor overlooks or fails to spot a major defect which subsequently comes to light, you as the purchaser will have some recourse.

It is worth pointing out that this protection only applies to the individual who commissioned the survey, it does not apply, if for instance you were to buy something with a recent survey carried out for somebody who did not go ahead with purchase and has handed over a copy of the survey to the seller. The survey should take half a day to carry out and will involve testing the boats systems, carrying out testing to establish the thickness of the shell using ultrasound and giving an opinion as to the value of the boat.

The survey may highlight work that needs to be done, this can range from minor faults that can be fixed quickly and cheaply to major problems such as corrosion requiring extensive repairs to the hull costing thousands. Most surveyors are happy for the potential purchaser to be present during the survey, but don’t get in the way and save questions to the end. Perhaps a good plan is to arrive at the boat at a time agreed with the surveyor when he will have finished and can give you a summary of his findings. If you choose not to be there then it is usual for the surveyor to give you a call with a summary which will enable you to make a decision on whether to proceed or not. This will be followed up with a detailed written report running to many pages, divided into sections with recommendations for remedial work. As an aside most surveyors can also provide Boat Safety Certificates, if you are going ahead and one is needed it could be worth getting this done at the same time.

Payment – buyer beware

The survey is done, you have agreed the price with the seller with any adjustment made for defect rectification. You now need to complete the purchase, beware you are about to enter the dark zone of boat purchase.

Buying a boat is nothing like buying a house or a car, a house will have title documents and searches will be carried out to ensure that you are protected. Strict protocols are in place to protect your funds while the process takes place. When you buy a used car, you can, for a modest fee check is provenance. So when buying a narrow boat costing more than a car and a bit less than a house, is there a way to ensure that you are buying a something that actually belongs to the seller has no outstanding finance and is exactly what is says on the documents? Amazingly there is not, you have more protection buying something on eBay than you will have when handing over thousands for your new boat. Unless the boat you are buying was purchased with a marine mortgage there will be absolutely no record available to tell if there is an outstanding loan or indeed. If the person selling is actually the owner.

There are a few simple steps that one can take to avoid being caught out: Reputable brokers will gather a certain amount of information about the seller, including an identity check looking at the boats documents including the bill of sale when the present owner bought it. But despite all this you should carry out your own “due diligence” ask to see all the documents including the original or last bill of sale, CRT licence, Boat Safety Certificate, previous sale details and as much information about the seller as you can get. You should be able to construct a history of the boat from it being built to the present day, are there any gaps? Does the address of the seller fit the story, look up the address on Google street view, does it look right? Cases of fraud are fortunately rare, but they are not unknown. If it looks wrong then it probably is and it may be best to walk away.

The next area of difficulty is completing the purchase, depending on whether a broker is involved or you are dealing direct with the owner the funds will need to be transferred and a bill of sale signed. In either case the only sensible way to do this is to have all parties in the same place preferably where the boat is, both sign the bill of sale then transfer the money by CHAPS (immediate electronic payment). As soon as the money moves the boat should be handed over and a receipt issued.

Brokers prefer to have the funds before the completion and will often have a clients account in which the funds will be kept, they will argue that your money is perfectly safe and that in the event of them going out of business your money will be “ring fenced”. Don’t believe it, they may well have a client account but who has access to it is anybody’s guess. Brokers are unregulated, there is no equivalent to the law society to ensue that your funds are safe. Brokers may or may not belong to an association, but this will be a trade body with nothing more than a code of conduct to follow. In the best case and the broker went bust while holding your money it would be months before you saw it again, and then only when the administrator had finished winding up the business, in the worst you will never see the money again. The message is clear be careful and don’t part with the money until the last possible minute.

Buying a narrow boat requires a bit of work, take your time, enjoy the process. Remember that there are lots of boats out there and you will find the right one eventually. The old saying goes “Always look before you leap…But if you are going to leap anyway, don’t look too hard.

ARTICLE ENDS

As a result of part one of the above article I received the following email from fellow Calcutt Boats moorer David Lorimer. David wanted to share a positive boat buying story with you.

“We’ve crossed at Calcutt but have never been “properly introduced”. My wife Maeve and I are the owners of Wine Down, a Cerulean Blue 57′ moored in the Swallow Bay at Calcutt. I’ve just read your 14 Feb newsletter with the “buying a boat” excerpt from Simon Birt’s account and I’d like to recount how we came about buying ours.

We live in Brazil, so what would be the normal procedure for purchasing a boat – researching on Apollo Duck and brokerage sites, then visiting, negotiating etc would be rather difficult. We’ve cruised on rented boats since the eighties and, in preparation for my retirement, were considering buying a boat and spending half the year on it, the other half in Brazil. We put theory to the test In 2013, hiring an Oxfordshire Narrowboats 58′ for a month; rather to our surprise, that hire confirmed that we could get along together in the more confined space even more amicably than in our Brazilian spread.

After that hire I visited some marinas to look at used boats and didn’t find much of interest. Driving to marinas spread out across the country was pretty tiring. So, when we returned to Brazil I began researching all I could about narrowboat living, sale and purchase contracts, the CRT, insurance, as well as the brochures put up on brokerage sites and Apollo Duck. By early 2014 we had settled on what we wanted, a fairly new Aqualine 57-58′ Madison with one double cabin forward, cruiser stern. New & Used Boats had a brand-new Madison available for immediate delivery and I very nearly closed the deal on that. But there were several used ones advertised on Apollo Duck and I eventually contacted three owners via email, with varying degrees of receptivity. Usual questions, including why are you selling. Two, I could suss out from the email exchanges, were rather doubtful as to whether we were serious buyers. The third, owners of Wine Down, were extremely professional. They were a double income, no kids, couple upgrading to a wide-beam on which they intended to live, sent us time-stamped photos of every nook and corner of the boat.

The owners were able to do some background research on me via google and I on them. In the space of a week of emails, photos, questions and answers, we reached a very reasonable level of trust. I had offered a much lower deposit than normal, around 5% instead of 20-30%, which they accepted. On the basis of that they had the 2011-built boat lifted out and blacked, while I arranged for an independent survey – which came back with no caveats. A few weeks later we arrived in the UK, went straight to a hotel near the marina, met up with the owners, looked over the boat and, next day, went with them to the bank and transferred the balance. Deal done, smooth, no glitches, no lawyers, no brokers. So easy, everyone happy. Wine Down’s just had its first BSS survey, arranged by Calcutt, all ok and we’re anxious to begin a six-month cruising schedule starting in April.”

David Lorimer

There’s some more excellent boat buying advice from ex corporate financier Alan Izatt in this newsletter from last year.

Cruising Guide To London

Have you read Peter Earley’s excellent three part guide to cruising in the capital? No? You’re missing a wealth of information you probably won’t find anywhere else. If you’re thinking about going anywhere near the capital in your boat, make sure that you read these three posts first.

Discovery Day And Narrowboat Helmsmanship Training

If you’re new to this site you might not know about the service I launched in June 2014. I host narrowboat experience days on board my own 62′ long narrowboat James No 194. The ten hour days are a combination of discussion about the pros and cons of living on board, narrowboat designs and the best equipment for live aboard boaters, and a six to eight hour helmsmanship training cruise along the Oxford and/or Grand Union Canals.

I’ll be running the discovery days approximately on the first ten days of April, June, August, October and December next year. As spring approaches more and more site users are booking the relatively few discovery days still available. In the last week alone, four dates for June and two for August have been reserved. April is now fully booked apart for one date for a single person, and just six of the thirteen June dates remain. If you are interested in joining me for a fun and information packed discovery day please check the diary before it’s too late.

In the meantime, meet September 2013 discovery day attendee Justin Parrish.

“I thought the day was splendid. As you know I am planning to buy a canal boat and live on board cruising permanently. Although I have plenty of holidaying on boats experience I had gaps in knowledge and was particularly after information/tips on buying a boat and preferred specs, some explanations on technical aspects and to gain some experience with solo boating. I thought you covered everything I was after. The walk round your boat explaining systems and talking about relative merits of different types of heating etc was great and will help me greatly with buying a boat. I enjoyed the cruise and was grateful to learn how to solo lock with someone about to help or fish me out of the canal if needed. The way you get information across is very good with your knowledge, patience and enthusiasm for the subject always coming through. I can not think of anything else I needed on the day, I think the merit of your day is that it covers pretty much everything with enough time to still be tailored to the needs of those who attend. Yes. If anyone is thinking of canal boating and has any doubts in their mind about any aspect then the day is well worthwhile. I’m sure novices and veterans could all learn something and you were great company throughout.Thanks again Paul for a great day. I enjoyed myself and learned lots, which I know will give me the confidence to make my dream happen. ”

I Need Some Help!

Each time I write a newsletter, I tick another subject off the list of things which those new to boating have told me that they want to read about. The hardest part of the process isn’t the writing itself, it’s constantly thinking of new content for each issue. The trouble is, I don’t know what you want to read. I think I keep the newsletters reasonably interesting but I don’t know for sure. That’s where I need your help.

Can you let me know what you would like to read in the future? Are there any areas of narrowboat life you don’t think I’ve covered enough or areas which I’ve missed completely? Please let me know what you want to read about. Thanks for your help.

Newsletter Index

I created the site just over four years ago to provide a source of information for anyone interested in narrowboats and the possibility of living on one full time. The site has grown to encompass a comprehensive listing of inland marinas in England and Wales, dozens of articles, a forum and regular newsletters. I’ve already created (below) indexes of the site articles and the more popular forum posts. I thought it was about time I created an easy to use index of the newsletter content. Here’s the index so far.

Here’s a live aboard narrowboat fully equipped for long term cruising. It’s my own boat James No 194. There’s a five minute video tour of the boat and a summary of the pros and cons of the boat’s design and equipment.

London cruising – Every week I receive emails from potential boat owners who want to live on board in London or who want to visit the capital as part of a holiday cruise. This advice from a very experienced boater will be of great interest to you if you’re one of them.

Finding reliable tradesmen on the cut – They are out there but it’s not always easy to sort the wheat from the chaff. Here’s a new service on the site which is going to make the job much easier for you.

I ran short of time during this week and couldn’t think of much to write about anyway, so I just detailed an idyllic week we spent away from the marina, pottering about for a few days in Braunston and then finishing off the week on the south Oxford canal down as far as Fenny Compton. Six months before the start of our continuous cruising lifestyle, it was just what we needed to whet our appetites.

Emergency food on board – Some of the most pleasant places to moor are a long way from the nearest supermarket. Here are some suggestions to ensure that you’re never short of a tasty meal on your idyllic canal-side retreat.

Cruising in adverse weather conditions – Steering a narrowboat over the glassy surface of a placid canal on windless day in the middle of summer is child’s play. Here’s what you need to do on a “normal” day’s cruise.

living on board in the winter, the cost of living afloat generally and where you can moor your floating home are all subjects which are misunderstood by many aspiring narrowboat owners. Here’s what you need to know.

The pros and cons of a wide beam boat – More and more wannabe boaters are considering more spacious wide beams rather than narrowboat. There is clearly more living space on board but how practical are wide beam boats on the inland waterways?

The dreaded weed hatch – Sooner or later your engine will start to overheat, you’ll lose propulsion and you’ll know that you need to dive down your weed hatch to free an obstacle or two from the propeller. Here’s how to do it properly and a list of the tools you’ll need.

Practical experience for lone boaters. Here’s an account of a day’s cruise with a nervous single boater. He wanted enough confidence to deal with locks on his own. I spent the day with him, designed a route to include twenty six locks and spent ten hours helping him hone his locking skills.

The A -Z of everything narrowboat – With over 5,500 posts and pages on the site now, quickly finding exactly what you want can sometimes be a problem. For this newsletter I started creating and A-Z index of all the site content.

Narrowboat Knots – At my first lock on my first cruise I watched my boat drift into the centre of the canal along with my twelve year old son. If you want to avoid the same embarrassment and potential damage to both your boat and your self esteem, you need to know how to tie your boat securely in a number of different situations.

Toilets is a subject often discussed by narrowboat owners but they usually talk about either pump out or cassette toilets. There is a third type though and it’s one which is both environmentally friendly and cheap to run. Here’s all you need to know about composting toilets.

Boat owners who live on board are considered to have a pretty simple and basic life by many living in bricks and mortar homes. Compared with the lifestyle of the farmers I’ve been staying with in the Philippines though, my UK life seems overly materialistic and expensive. Cou

Here’s an account of my very first winter on board and that of one of the site’s subscribers, Nigel Buttery. They’re very different experiences. My first winter was the coldest on record. Nigel’s is one of the mildest winters we’ve had for a long time.

I’ve also included to links to my Philippines blog. I spent the whole of February living in a rural farming community on the island of Negros.

Have you ever wondered how a narowboat is built. Here are the first two parts of a very detailed account of the building of a Sea Otter aluminium narrowboat. You’ll be particularly interested in Sea Otters if you don’t fancy the constant battle with rust that you have with traditional steel narrowboats.

The practicality of hosting Christmas afloat – How do you achieve a floating festive event (and do you really want to)?

Liveaboard case study, The Pearl – Tony and Jane Robinson believe in forward planning. They stated their narrowboat fund thirty years before buying their own boat. Now the two retired education workers moor in a marina for the winter then explore the waterways during the warmer months.

Fitting secondary double glazing – Fitting the panels is a simple operation for those with the most basic DIY skills, something which I sadly haven’t developed. As you might expect then, the fitting didn’t go as well as it should.

Narrowboat videos – I launched the Living On A Narrowboat YouTube channel

Managing your boat’s water supply. You can use your water supply as and when you need it when you live in a house with all mod cons. You can pretty much do the same when you’re on a marina mooring with a water supply just a hose length away. It’s a different kettle of fish when you’re on an online mooring.

Liveaboard case study – A prime example of mooring without a water supply on tap.

The folly of using unseasoned wood as a fuel – Here’s essential information if you plan to use logs you find to heat your boat for free

Creating lasting memories of your cruises – Slightly off topic, but please bear with me. You’ll have some wonderful adventures as you travel throughout the network. They’ll be adventures worth remembering but will you remember them? I have a very poor memory but instant and total recall of all my cruises is just a click away.

A disaster – I inadvertently deleted this week’s newsletter and there wasn’t a backup on the server. What a shame. It was all about the damage you can do to your boat if you don’t watch what you’re doing in a lock. You would have loved it!

Liveaboard Case Study – American Richard Varnes has taken a year out from work to cruise the canal network and write about his adventure. Here’s his case study and a few stories from his journey so far.

CART Guide Approval – The waterways’ governing body is now promoting the information packages available from this site. Yippee!

Narrowboat Insurance – A summary of insurance quotes from the major narrowboat insurers

Liveaboard Case Study – Keith and Nicky downsized their property in Jersey, used the released capital to buy their 57? “go anywhere” narrowboat and now live on their boat full time while they continuously cruise the canal network. They’re ridiculously young to retire, and I’m very, very jealous

Downsizing from a 3 bed semi to a narrowboat – What do you do with a lifetime’s accumulated possessions?

Keeping your stove glass clean – Maybe you think it’s an odd subject for the summer but you can’t trust the English weather. Late June and the stove was still on now and again. At least now I have a crystal clear view of the fire I shouldn’t need to light.

Traffic chaos caused by Braunston’s historic boat rally – On a day with high winds and a canal full of working boats returning home after the rally, I had the pleasure of taking some very nervous hirers out on the cut.

23rd June 2013 – The cost of a two week cruise. If you live on your own boat, what’s the real cost of taking it away for a two week break?

Case Study – Mary Anne swapped dry land home rental for floating home ownership. Now she loves life afloat and works from home.

Life as a continuous cruiser – The Holy Grail of narrowboat ownership. The ability to travel where and when you like. Peter Early tells all.

The Ashby canal cruise part two – We spent a bit more time on the Ashby before heading south again, joining the Coventry canal, this time following it into Coventry’s rather depressing and disappointing city centre, then retracing our steps back to Calcutt

Most popular narrowboat names – Here’s the definitive list of the top 200 most popular narrowboat names and a resource you can use to find out if any other boat has the same name as yours

Considerate boating – An article prompted after a near head on collision with another boat trying to avoid a fallen oak.

I was on holiday for the first two weeks of June. Sally and I cruised from Calcutt to Braunston, north along the north Oxford where we joined the Coventry canal briefly before taking a very sharp right turn onto the Ashby canal. Here’s a daily report of the first week of our holiday.

My comments about an encounter on the Oxford/GU section between Napton and Braunston sparked a debate about the pros and cons of wide beams on the cut.

Keeping dry – You don’t really need to limit your cruising to sunny summer days. There’s something very special about standing on the back deck in the pouring ran protected by a set of bomb proof waterproofs.

Do you really need a car? Living on a narrowboat is all about enjoying a simple and stress free life. Sally and I had a car each. Mine cost £2,000 to run in the previous 12 months so I decided to get rid of mine to see if I could manage without one.

Case study – Sarah lives on wide beam Antioch on the Leeds Liverpool canal. She can do man things with her hands. Here’s her story.

Be inspired – There are always reasons why you don’t make the move from bricks and mortar to steel and water. Here’s an anecdote which demonstrates once and for all that there really aren’t any worthwhile excuses.

Case Studies – I put together 21 of the best case studies and analysed and summarised the data in this low cost guide. If you want ton save yourself hundreds of hours of research and costly mistakes, you need to read this guide.

Case Study – Mike’s circumstances are similar to my own. He moved onto his boat after a failed marriage. He’s upgraded from a 27? GRP cruiser to a 50? narrowboat

As a result of the article about the downside of living on a narrowboat published in the 18th March newsletter, I asked liveaboard narrowboat owners to complete a survey to give a balanced view of the issues raised by Pauline. Here are the survey results and a much more positive article by liveaboard narrowboat owner and frequent forum contributer Peter Early.

Dealing with the coldest winter on record
Digital reading – A detailed review of the Kindle, the perfect solution for book loving boat owners

Comprehensive Site Article Listing

There are dozens of helpful and interesting articles on the site, but have you found them all? I thought you might appreciate a list of the more popular articles that you can glance through and click on the ones that take your fancy. Here it is.

Popular Forum Posts

There’s a wealth of information on the site in general, but if you’re struggling to find the answer to a particular issue, the forum is the place to find it. I’ve listed some of the more popular posts below but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask your question on the forum. If you don’t know how to create a post, or if you can’t log in, please let me know. I’ll be more than happy to get you up and running.

Aluminium Boats – They don’t rust so why don’t you see more of them on the inland waterways?

Remedies For Sooty Stove Glass – For me, one of the great pleasures of living on a narrowboat is a winter evening in front of a flickering fire. Here’s how you can keep your stove glass clear so you can see the fire in all its glory

A New Narrowboat Dog – Alan recently moved on board his own floating home. He loved his new boat but something was missing. Now he has a new best friend and he’s in love, although his new best friend has proven a bit of a challenge.

Electric Boats – What do they cost to run? Why would you want one? There’s a huge amount of information for you here if you’ve ever considered an alternative to a diesel narrowboat engine.

Pram Covers – “Pram cover” is the term for a cover over the rear deck, usually on a cruiser stern narrowboat. Here are the pros and cons.

Checklists – What do you need to check before you set off on a cruise? There’s some very detailed information including a very useful post by fellow Calcutt moorer Graham who has issues with his mobility after an RTA many years ago.

Television Aerials – If you can’t live without your Corrie, you’ll need a decent aerial for your boat.

My New Life – I urge you to read this forum thread. If you dream of living on your own narrowboat one day, reading this post, written by a new liveaboard boater, may well prove the catalyst you need. It’s essential reading for any aspiring narrowboat owner.

Narrowboat Ownership – How do you prove that the person offering a narrowboat for sale is the real owner?

Beds – The pros and cons of fixed doubles and cross beds. You need to read this if you are taller or slightly wider than average.

Flushing Out a Toilet Waste Tank – Emptying your pumpout toilet holding tank isn’t just a case of sucking out your unmentionables. You also need to flush water through the tank to remove the built up solids. Here’s how to do it.

Best Ex Hire Boats – Are you considering buying an ex hire boat to live on? Should you? Here’s some important information for you.

Liveaboard Conclusions – Mel Davies has been doing plenty of research into her hoped for lifestyle afloat. Here are the conclusions she’s reached and comments from a few existing liveaboard narrowboat owners.

Handling Floodwaters – How safe is a river mooring during and after heavy rain? Can you stay on a river when the level rises? What can you do to minimise danger?

Winter on the cut – Are you able to cruise all year on your boat or should you find a mooring for the winter?

Transporting your boat – Sometimes you may want or need to take your narrowboat by road rather than cruise along the canal. Here’s an idea of the cost

Bike types and preferences – If you don’t have a car parked near your boat, you’ll probably want a bike, but which type of bike is best?

Towing a butty – I’ve upset someone. I didn’t mean to. Wainbody wanted to know the best way of towing an unpowered second narrowboat (butty). I came across as patronising when I replied. It was unintentional but to make amends I thought I would ask anyone with boat handling experience to reply to his thread with some constructive advice. If you can help him, please reply to the post.

Diesel heating for boats – How important is a solid fuel stove on a liveaboard narrowboat? Is a diesel heating system OK as a primary heat source?

Computers on boats – Can a computer be powered from your boat’s 12v system or does it need to be plugged into the mains

Receiving post on your boat – How does the postman find you when you’re cruising? How do you apply for a driving license, a TV license or a bank statement when you have no official address?

Bikes on board – Many boat owners do not have cars so they rely on bikes to get them to the shops (or the pub). Some use bikes to collect their cars after a day’s cruising. There’s a huge selection of bikes to choose from. Which are the best for your boat? To tell you the truth, I don’t know the answer. Can you point forum member Ainslo in the right direction?

Paul Smith

After six and a half years living on a narrowboat on England's inland waterways, Paul and his wife Cynthia now wander Europe by motorhome during the winter, and on the Dutch and French waterways in the warmer months on their 32' Dutch motor cruiser.